# Is "Black Elk Speaks" by John G. Neihardt (as told through Black Elk) a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Black Elk Speaks by John G. Neihardt (as told through Black Elk) (William Morrow & Company, 1932) is identified by: First edition, first printing (William Morrow, 1932). US William Morrow (1932) is the true first — the landmark Lakota spiritual autobiography, "as told to" John G.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first printing (William Morrow, 1932)
- Per Morrow's pre-1973 practice, the first printing is identified by the ABSENCE of any later-printing statement on the copyright page ("Second Printing," etc.) — Morrow did not print an explicit "First Edition" line in this period
- Bound in crimson cloth stamped in bronze/gilt (a gray-cloth variant stamped in red is also recorded, both accepted as first-printing states); xv, [3], 280 pp., with the Standing Bear illustrations in color and black-and-white
- First-issue dust jacket with the original Standing Bear art and its price printed at the flap; jacketed firsts are genuinely rare
- Publisher imprint reads William Morrow & Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | John G. Neihardt (as told through Black Elk) |
| Publisher | William Morrow & Company |
| Year | 1932 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, first printing (William Morrow, 1932) |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First edition, first printing (William Morrow, 1932). Per Morrow's pre-1973 practice, the first printing is identified by the ABSENCE of any later-printing statement on the copyright page ("Second Printing," etc.) — Morrow did not print an explicit "First Edition" line in this period. Bound in crimson cloth stamped in bronze/gilt (a gray-cloth variant stamped in red is also recorded, both accepted as first-printing states); xv, [3], 280 pp., with the Standing Bear illustrations in color and black-and-white. First-issue dust jacket with the original Standing Bear art and its price printed at the flap; jacketed firsts are genuinely rare.

## Is this the true first?
US William Morrow (1932) is the true first — the landmark Lakota spiritual autobiography, "as told to" John G. Neihardt. Identify it by the Morrow copyright-page rule (no later-printing statement present). Later University of Nebraska Press / Bison Books editions (from 1961) are "first thus" with new introductions and are common; the 1932 Morrow first is scarce, especially jacketed.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition prominent in 1932; the pervasive confusion is the University of Nebraska Press / Bison Books editions (1961 onward), which carry the Nebraska imprint and added introductions — clearly not the 1932 Morrow first. Any later-printing statement on a Morrow copyright page likewise rules out the first printing.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Black Elk Speaks* by John G. Neihardt (as told through Black Elk) a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/black-elk-speaks
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.